Lifelong Learning in Aging Societies · Lifelong Learning in Aging Societies 115 nonprofit organizations (e.g., the travel-learning program, Elderhostel, Inc.), or even stemming from

CHAPTER 8

Lifelong Learning inAging SocietiesEmerging Paradigms

Ronald J. Manheimer

Learning opportunities for midlife and older adults have proliferated aroundthe world since the early 1970s, We can attribute this growth to one or all ofthe following: (a) national efforts to promote lifelong leaming societies forpeople of all ages, (b) initiatives responding specifically to sharp increases inthe percentage of a country's older citizens, and (c) outgrowth of the adultand continuing education movement that gained momentum in the 19th cen-tury with the rise of democratic attitudes towards the benefits of educationfor all—including a nation's older citizens (Manheimer, 2007), Support forleaming in later life can also be traced to the contributions of gerontologicalresearchers who point to the value of fostering intellectual, emotional, andspiritual development that adds to the individual's quality of life and enhancehis or her capacity for making social contributions. This life-course perspec-tive underscores the mature adult's need and ability to adapt to situations thatarise in mid- and later life such as the changing roles that may follow full orpartial disengagement from the workforce, pursuit of postretirement careers,availability of more leisure time for creative ventures, and increased involve-ment in volunteer activities.

Growth of older learner programs can only be partially attributed to theacademic field of gerontology, the activities of adult education organizations.

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or the initiative of government agencies. In the United States, rather thana concerted national effort, the rise of older learner programs has been agrassroots phenomenon nurtured by a number of small groups and vision-ary leaders operating, at least initially, at the local level. Consequently, theUnited States lacks a central coordinating body. The various programs dependheavily on the services of volunteers and draw from a multiplicity of fundingstreams (e.g., from program fees, gifts, foundation grants, and occasionallypublic funding). One could argue that, for the United States, older learnerprograms play a marginal role relative to both academic gerontology and adulteducation, and that neither field has captured the dramatic emergence of thismovement.

The strength of programs on the U.S. scene is their diversity, relativeautonomy, and divergent creativity. Their weaknesses lie on the nip side: eachhas to fend for itself and justify its existence, its leaders are somewhat isolatedfrom peers operating in different types of host organizations, and the pro-grams are subject to the uncertainties of being marginally positioned in suchorganizations as universities, not-for-profit businesses, public libraries, muse-ums, and trade unions. In other countries, by contrast, education for matureadults is largely a govemmental matter, usually belonging to the portfolio ofministries of education.

To appreciate the current status of lifelong leaming, it is imperative tounderstand the tangled web of mandates and goals, policies, and institutionalmotivations. Older learner programs have multiple origins, are influenced bydominant national ideologies concerning culture, education, retirement, andaging, and by the country's economic systems. In all cases, the older learnermovement is an outgrowth of the unprecedented demographic rise of agingsocieties characterized by lengthened life expectancy, low birth rates, improvedhealth care and hygiene, rising completion rates of postsecondary education,and relative affluence derived from public and private pensions funds. Thesefactors, in tum, have contributed to an extension of midlife activity levels intopeople's 60s and 70s, in this way expanding the number of years encompassedby what is commonly called the Third Age (Laslett, 1991).

Additionally challenging to the student of older adult education is thefield's continuing dynamic, driven by paradigm shifts that may graduallytransform older leamer programs into age-integrated or age-neutral educa-tional programs. As members of the U.S. boomer generation pursue continuedleaming but resist identification with aging and the elderly, existing programswill have to refresh their images and public identities and perhaps the contentsof their programs and how the programs are delivered. In this sense, olderleamer programs are headed toward an identity crisis. To understand why

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lifelong learning can be considered vi hat sociologists call a "contested site,"whose meaning is unstable and its future uncertain, we need to examine theinstitutional rationales for older learner programs, the motives of older learn-ers themselves, how the two are expressed through a variety of exemplaryprograms hosted by diverse organizations, and how, with its great size anddiversity, the aging boomer population may influence the next stages of thismovement.

In what follows, we focus mainly on the older learner scene in the UnitedStates and its social context but refer to developments in other countries whenthese provide useful contrast.

WHY EDUCATION OF OLDER LEARNERS?Education, as pioneering French sociologist Emil Durkheim told his studentsin 1902, "is the means by which society perpetually recreates the conditionsof its very existence" (Durkheim, 1956, p. 123). Through formal school-ing, the young leam the skills, values, and socially accepted behaviors thatprepare them to be good citizens, productive workers, and, in many societ-ies, to achieve personally fulfilling lives. Through their educational institu-tions, societies perpetuate themselves. And when societies change because ofwars, social upheavals, or technological transformations—for example, theVietnam War, the civil rights and women's movements, and digital technol-ogy and the Intemet—then educational institutions must adapt accordinglyand, hopefully, take on new leadership roles. This process of institutionalrevitalization is rarely immediate. As famed American educational philoso-pher John Dewey long ago pointed out, there is often a lag between chang-ing social conditions and the ability of educational institutions to respond(Dewey, 1916).

What then about education for the not so young? In most postindus-trial societies, adults beyond traditional secondary or postsecondary schoolage (18 and 25, respectively) may choose or sometimes be required to en-roll in trade schools, continuing professional education or corporate trainingprograms, or they may seek to pursue postgraduate degrees. In the UnitedStates, for example, it is increasingly common for working-age adults to pur-sue continuing education. According to the National Center for EducationalStatistics (NCES), over one-third of adults aged 25-54 enrolled in some kindof work-related formal educational course in the academic year 2004-2005(NCES, 2006).

What about people who are winding down careers or who have retired?Does society continue to have a stake iñ their further education, or are they


now on their own, free of social obligations and norms and, therefore, nolonger the concern of national governments?

If the latter view were the case, then it would be difficult to understandwhy the Japanese Ministry of Education promoted the Lifelong Leaming Actof 1990 to expand the number of Elder Colleges across that country as partof a plan to foster a lifelong leaming society (Ministry of Education, Cul-ture, Sports, and Technology, 2005) or why the Spanish Ministry of Educa-tion has supported the establishment of 47 Older Adult University Programs(OAUP) since the early 1990s (Bm Ronda, 2007), Generally speaking, theseelder leaming programs are not designed to help people retrain to reenter thelabor force or to be better citizens. So, Professor Durkheim might ask, whatsocially viable end do they serve? To answer this question, we need to look atthe types of organizations providing these educational opportunities.

The French govemment encourages people 50 and over to join Uni-versities of the Third Age (U3As), based at state-supported institutions ofhigher leaming and drawing on an academic faculty, U3As were started inErance in 1973 as part of a govemmental initiative aiming to expand univer-sity outreach to its citizens. Since then, hundreds of French-style U3As havecropped up across Europe with a sprinkling in French-speaking Canada andin the United States. A movement with the same name initiated in the UnitedKingdom in 1981 explicitly rejected university affiliation and eschewed gov-emment support. In the latter case, the British U3A members educate oneanother through topic-based leaming circles in which they take tums pre-senting their research. Meeting in members' homes and local community cen-ters, they take responsibility for teaching and for the organizational work ofsustaining their groups. Britain, since the early 1960s, has its related publicaccess educational effort in the form of the television, and now also Internet-based, Open University. This single example of the U3As indicates that thereare different views about who should take responsibility for continued leam-ing opportunities for older adults.

In Erance and other European countries and Japan, national and regionalgovernments play major roles in managing lifelong leaming for people of allages, and institutions of higher education strongly influence their curriculaand pedagogy. In the United Kingdom, older citizens have taken this authorityfor themselves.

In the case of the United States, where a Lifelong Leaming Act was passedin 1976, only to fail to secure the appropriation of Congressional funding,there is a remarkable array of learning opportunities for midlife and olderadults, some affiliated with public institutions such as colleges and universi-ties (e.g., hfelong leaming institutes' or LLIs) and others operating through


nonprofit organizations (e.g., the travel-learning program, Elderhostel, Inc.),or even stemming from for-profit businesses (e.g.. The May Company depart-ment store's support for the Older Adult Services and Information Systems[OASIS] centers). Like its own economy, the lifelong leaming business in theUnited States is a laissez-faire enterprise.

There must be some way to account for these diverse scenarios, eachhinting that there is a multitude of compelling roles for education to playin the lives of older people. Discussing the Japanese situation, J. D. Wilson(2001) offers some helpful hints. According to Wilson, the list of govem-ment rationales for support of lifelong leaming programs for midlife and olderadults includes: enabling older adults to maintain a sense of purpose in theirnonworking years, preserving and fostering cultural practices, acquiring newknowledge and skills to keep pace with and adapt to social changes, and re-ducing the physical care needs of aging citizens through teaching them aboutdisease prevention and good self-care practices. In addition, the fact that thegovemment takes an interest in the welfare of its aging citizens through sup-porting continued leaming opportunities also helps to enhance their socialstatus by communicating the social and cultural message that continued de-velopment throughout the life-course is important.

Wilson's list is insightful and accurately reflects a govemmental viewpointthat would translate across many cultural borders into other countries in whicha so-called graying of society is occurring. However, a govemmental viewpointis not necessarily identical with the outlook and motivation of older leamersthemselves. Govemment rationales for support of older leamer programs tendto emphasize pragmatic goals such as lowering the state's burden for healthcare cost, ameliorating premature institutionalization, and mollifying maturevoters to accept their new station in life (especially those who have been invol-untarily shunted out of the labor force by downsizing or mandated retirementages). Even a rationale currently in vogue in the United States, that continuedcognitive challenge through various forms of education and the arts can delayor even prevent the onset of dementia (Cohen, et al., 2007), may receive a nodfrom govemment budget officers and even health care insurers. It may alsoprompt some mature adults to sign up for lifelong leaming programs as a pre-ventative health measure. But it is unlikely that adaptation to retirement, "brainhealth" or "cognitive benefits" would be an older learner's chief motive. Indeed,leamer motives and govemment or host-institution rationales often differ.

Researchers have clustered motives for participating in lifelong leaminginto two broad categories: instrumental and expressive (Londoner, 1978).Instrumental motives have an extrinsic, in-order-to-achieve, character andinclude mastering certain skills such as playing an instrument, leaming a


foreign language, gaining facility with computer software applications, oracquiring budget management techniques. Expressive motives, sometimesdeemed intrinsic, learning-for-its-own-sake, include deepening a sense ofmeaning, gaining insight into one's past, developing appreciation for art ormusic or literature, finding a voice through poetry or song, and seeking in-ner calm and insight through leaming to meditate, Glearly, the two categoriesoverlap, as one might pursue a life review process in order to write an au-tobiography, or might study Italian or Spanish as part of a planned trip to acountry of origin in search of deepening one's sense of cultural heritage.

In addition to instrumental and expressive motives for pursuing con-tinued leaming, older leamer programs share a common heritage with adulteducation, that of the camaraderie of one's fellow students. The social value ofadult education can be traced to Benjamin Franklin's informal Junto, a smallgroup of citizens that gathered monthly to present essays to one another on awide variety of topics and who shared a meal and mutual support in the pro-cess, A hallmark of many older leamer programs, even one's that are online, isthe opportunity to widen one's circle of friends and to establish new relation-ships through the affinities of shared interest.

Confirming and expanding this perspective on older leatrier motives.Lamb and Brady (2005) found intellectual stimulation, participation in a sup-portive group, enhanced self-esteem, and opportunities for spiritual renewalto be the chief benefits expressed by mature students. Still, leamer motivesvary depending on whether participants are mainly involved in instrumentalor expressive type programs.

Rationales for older leamer programs, as we have seen, vary from coun-try to country and from one host institution to another. The goals pursued byolder leamers are also diverse, ranging from acquiring specific skills to en-riching personal growth and social networking. By highlighting a number ofspecific programs, primarily on the American scene, we can better understandhow this movement is being played out.

EXEMPLARY PROGRAMSCollege and university-based LLIs arose in the mid-1970s in part influencedby a prototype, the Institute for Retired Professionals (IRP), established in1962 at the New School for Social Research (now New School University) inNew York City, The IRP invited individuals seriously interested in intellectualsubjects and wilUng to join small study circles based on specific scholarlypursuits to which they would contribute in turn. Over a decade would pass


before a handful of similar member-led educational programs appeared bythe mid-1970s (Manheimer, Snodgrass, & Moskow-McKenzie, 1995), But bythe mid-1980s there was a sharp rise in the rate of new programs started eachyear until, by 2007, tbere were more tban 400 of these programs across theUnited States and Canada, almost all linked with colleges and universities.Diverging from the British and French approaches, many of the AmericanLLIs use an expert-led format rather than collaborative study circles and oftendraw on members as volunteer instructors or facilitators (Manheimer, 2005),

LLIs are unique not only because members are partially or fully in charge(host institutions may provide space and some clerical support) but becausethey are based on a financial model that requires participants, besides provid-ing free labor and leadership, to help pay for a portion of the cost of their owncontinuing education. This financing method may seem unexceptional, but atthe time of the model's inception, the idea that older leamers should pay someportion of the cost of their own education was unprecedented. Previously,most older learner programs were free and generally depended on the largesseof private and public foundations and govemment subsidies. That earlierfunding basis explains why programs were so often episodic, coming and go-ing in repetitive cycles of "demonstration projects" that left no infrastructurebehind. Perhaps the self-financing business model of most continuing educa-tion departments infiuenced LLIs where, institutionally, they are most oftenorganizationally situated.

Today, the network of LLIs is loosely linked through affiliation with theElderhostel Institute Network (EIN), a consortium supported, in part, throughthe largesse of Boston-based, Elderhostel (more about which will follow in thissection). EIN makes available an extensive Web site that lists member pro-grams in the United States and Canada, posts monthly newsletters, and pro-vides extensive material on curricula, by-laws, how to start an LLI, and so on.

A second, newly emerging network of LLIs derives from the beneficenceof the Bemard Osher Foundation, which has generously funded 117 OsherLifelong Learning Institutes (or OLLIs), some of which are completely new andothers remodeled and expanded versions of existing programs. OLLIs meetannually at a national conference, share a scholarly and informational joumal,and gain the benefit of cross-fertilization and program sharing through a na-tional coordinating office based at the University of Southern Maine.

During this same fertile period that saw the rise of LLIs, we find initia-tion of a lifelong learning component in the faith-based, volunteer-run Shep-herd's Centers. Nonprofit community organizations sponsored by a coalitionof religious congregations. Shepherd's Centers are committed to the delivery


of services and programs for older adults. In 1972, the first Shepherd's Centerwas founded by Dr. Elbert C. Cole in Kansas City, Missouri. Twenty-threechurches and synagogues joined in an interfaith effort to provide a ministryby, with, and for older adults. Today, over 75 Shepherd's Centers in 21 statescomprise a network of 15,000 volunteers serving over 175,000 older adults.The services and programs of the Shepherd's Centers are designed to em-power older adults to lead creative, productive, meaningful, and interdepen-dent lives.

One of the many programs offered by the Shepherd's Centers is the Ad-ventures in Learning program, which utilizes older adults as both teachersand students, planners and participants. Classes are normally held weekly,biweekly, or monthly. The purpose of the educational program is to providean environment where older adults may share their knowledge, talents, skills,and new interests with their peers. A committee of volunteers makes the pro-gram decisions regarding curriculum, faculty, marketing, and evaluating. Thiscommittee is composed of faculty and students vidth backgrounds in educa-tion, public relations, administration, the arts, health, and clerical services.Most of the teachers are older adults who volunteer their time, knowledge,and skills.

OASIS is a consortium between business and not-for-profit organiza-tions designed to challenge and enrich the lives of adults 50 and older. Edu-cational, cultural, health, and volunteer outreach programs are offered at theOASIS Centers to provide participants an opportunity to remain indepen-dent and active in community affairs. In 1982, The May Department StoresCompany, the original major national sponsor, provided OASIS with dedi-cated meeting and activity space in many of its stores. Initial support for theprogram was provided by the Administration on Aging. In 2005, FederatedDepartment Stores bought out The May Company and inherited the OASISprogram, which it continues to support in partnership with BJC HealthCare.

The OASIS national office establishes program quality requirements andoverall management and operations guidelines. Currently there are 27 OASISCenters operating from coast to coast with over 360,000 members. Each cen-ter has permanent and specially designed space for offices, student lounges,and meeting rooms. Courses are offered in areas of visual arts, music, drama,creative writing, contemporary issues, history, science, exercise, and health.Many courses are held in collaboration with local medical, cultural and edu-cational institutions.

Volunteer outreach is an important component of the OASIS program.Many participants are trained in the Older Adult, Peer Leadership (OAPL)program to teach classes in the community and to work in intergenerational


programs helping young children. In 2006, more than 9,200 volunteers gaveover 550,000 hours of their time to mn the OASIS sites.

As an aside, it is worth noting that the name OASIS was originally usedas an acronym for Older Adult Services and Information Systems, but, aswith many organizations seeking to avoid aging stereotypes and sound lesslike a social service agency, it changed the name to just OASIS though it stilluses a tag line that reads: "Enriching the lives of mature adults."

In 1986, SeniorNet, based in San Francisco and with initial support fromthe Markle Foundation, was established to encourage older leamers to dis-cover the benefits of computer-based information, communication, and thecreative use of computer software. Subsequently, over 240 SeniorNet centershave cropped up in senior centers, public libraries, within LLIs, and in someretirement communities. SeniorNet sites also exist in other countries.

During the 1970s, with funding and mandates based on the Older Amer-icans Act, the multiservice senior center concept began to flourish. Activitiesand services available at approximately 15,000 local, city, and county-fundedcenters included hot meals and nutritional education, health education, em-ployment services, transportation assistance, social work services, educationalactivities, creative arts programs, recreation, leadership, and volunteer oppor-tunities. The recreation-education component of senior center programmingvaries with availability of community resources and interests of participants.Some of the more common activities include arts and crafts, nature studies,science and outdoor life, drama, physical activity, music, dance, table games,special social activities, literary activities, excursions, hobby or special inter-est groups, speakers, lectures, movies, fomms, round tables, and communityservice projects.

No sampler of lifelong leaming programs should fail to include one ofthe longest established and most successful, Elderhostel, Inc. Launched in1975 at the University of New Hampshire as an inexpensive, week-long cam-pus summer residency program for people 55 and over, Elderhostel grewquickly and spread throughout colleges and universities in the United Statesand then abroad. The results of collaboration between maverick educatorMarty Knowlton and university administrator David Bianco, Elderhostel typi-fies those lifelong leaming ventures launched without any serious feasibilitystudy and rather through the visionary leadership of a couple of innovativeindividuals.

Initially intended as a travel-learning program that might provide a tasteof college-level intellectual life to those who had not been able to or could notafford to attend college, the program has mainly attracted college graduates(a large percentage of whom are either former teachers or spouses of teachers).

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What began as a modest experiment with a social mission, Elderhostel quicklyturned into a big business requiring a telephone call-in center and, later, on-line registration technology and a marketing and research division. BecauseElderhostel now has many competitors, it must strive to update its image inorder to attract a new generation of increasingly sophisticated and discrimi-nating consumers. In 2004, Elderhostel launched Road Scholar, a set of morephysically challenging, smaller group tours designed to attract a somewhatyounger midlife population. Additionally, Elderhostel has undertaken a num-ber of market research studies that provide insight into current and futureparticipant attitudes.

The goal of a 2005 Elderhostel study was to determine into what cat-egories a representative national sampling of people age 55 and over mightbe grouped in terms of attitudes toward health (mental and physical), men-tal stimulation, and lifelong leaming activities. Two groups, whose attributeswere summarized by the labels "Eocused Mental Achievers" and "ContentedRecreational Leamers," were found to compose 47% of those surveyed while"Anxious Searchers," "Isolated Home Bodies," and "Pessimists" made up therest. When a similar survey was directed toward former Elderhostel partici-pants and 2,311 responses were analyzed, it turned out that 49% and 35%,respectively, fell into these first two categories (Elderhostel, 2007). That wasfortunate for the multimillion-dollar nonprofit business because these twocategories predict those individuals who are likeliest to sign up for continuedleaming opportunities. Moreover, Elderhostel researchers predict that thesetwo (for them) favorable psychographic groupings will be even more highlyrepresented among members of the boomer generation that is just easing itsway into the retirement years.

The education and performing art scene is as extensive and lively as inother types of older leamer programs. Hundreds of mature adult performingarts groups are listed in Senior Theatre Connections (Vorenberg, 1999), testifyingto the intemational popularity of older person's participation in the arts and inintergenerational arts activities. In addition, the National Center for CreativeAging (NCCA) hosts a creative arts and aging network that includes programsin scores of major cities across the United States. In 2007, together with theNew Jersey Performing Arts Center, NCCA published Creativity Matters: TheArts and A^ng Toolkit to help groups across the United States and abroad todesign, implement, and evaluate professionally led senior arts programs.

In many states, as part of the highly popular senior games, an Olympics-like sports competition for people 55 and over, there is a Silver Arts com-ponent encouraging everyone from painters to dancers to weavers to cheerleading teams to enter the competition and show their stuff.


This sampler is meant to indicate the range and types of programs thatcame to fruition in the United States over the past 40 years. It reveals that thelifelong leaming movement that seeks to attract midlife and older adults hastransformed itself from operating in a social service framework (providingleisure time activities for the "deserving elderly") to one that is more entre-preneurial—part of what Harry R, Moody calls the "silver industry" (Moody,2004-2005),

To this array of programs, we must add other host sites, such as atcommunity colleges, the YMCA and YWCA, Jewish community centers, artmuseums, hospital, and trade unions that have attracted large numbers ofpeople in their 50s, 60, and 70s to partake in educational opportunitiesnot specifically targeted to people by age or stage of life, or at least notidentified as such. State legislation, mainly initiated in the early 1970s, hasenabled thousands of citizens above a designated age (usually 65 but some-times 62) to attend regular college and university classes on a tuition-free,space-available basis. Work-related educational programs sponsored by ma-jor companies constitute another large resource for people in midhfe as partof retraining, upgrading of technical and managerial skills, and to a lesserextent as part of preparation for retirement. According to the NCES, 27% ofpeople aged 55-64 and 5% of those 65 and over took work-related coursesin 2005 (NCES, 2007),

COGNITIVE GYMNASTICS, BRAIN-MAINTAINING ARTS,AND PHYSICAL CULTURE

A number of surveys have indicated that of health concems, besides losingtheir youthful looks, ballerina-like balance, and somewhat questionable mem-ory capacity, a majority of baby boomers fear that they may eventually becomedemented or, worse, a victim of Alzheimer's disease. In response, a wholenew industry has cropped up. Emphasizing a recent revision in neurologicalassumptions, researchers now report that the brain does, indeed, continue toproduce new brain cells and dendrite connectivity. Consequently, the old "useit or lose it" adage, now scientifically supported, has helped create a multimillion-dollar industry of computer-based cognitive retraining programs designed toimprove memory functions, linguistic, mathematical and spatial problem-solving abilities, and even hand-eye coordination. These cognitive retrain-ing and enhancement programs are frequently marketed through languagedrawing from the world of physical fitness (e,g,, "mental gymnastics"). Whilethe exercise programs are not themselves educational in the narrow sense ofthe word, they do provide leaming opportunities and purportedly function,

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by analogy, as adjunctive to intellectual activities as are strength training regi-mens to the playing of sports.

Besides these computerized retraining programs, many other activities,ranging from crossword puzzle solving to leaming to play an instmment or tospeak a foreign language, are touted as helping to keep the mind sharp. TheAmerican Society on Aging annually awards a MindAlert prize to programsthat demonstrate a contribution to promoting mental acuity.

The great emphasis on lengthening midlife as long and far as possible iscertainly an admirable one even if it is partially driven by a fear of death anda rejection of whatever people imagine it is to grow old. That there are manytechniques and resources for slowing aging, even if, currently, most do notmeet strict standards of scientific verifiability, vidll no doubt add to the attrac-tiveness of lifelong leaming activities (Salthouse, 2006), A few programs actu-ally hint at or directly state that participation in their program could impedethe aging process and contribute to brain health.

So it is not surprising that pragmatic reasons have been given for olderpersons' participation in the arts. Gene Cohen, for example, has headed up a2-year creativity and aging study that, with the use of multiple sites and con-trol groups, has demonstrated positive health advantages of activities, such assinging in choirs, that reduce visits to doctors' offices, lower use of medicines,help to offset depression, and generally add to older persons' quality of life(Cohen, et al,, 2007). These positive results, Cohen underscores, contribute toreducing health care costs that society must shoulder. This utilitarian rationalefor older persons' participation in the arts and in other forms of lifelong leam-ing may attract govemment support and that of the health care and insuranceindustries.

The problem with utilitarian justifications for lifelong leaming is thatthey can distract from the intrinsic value and pleasure of these activities, evenfurther extending the medical model of aging into realms formerly safe fromhealth outcome measures. Many intellectual, cultural, and artistic activitieswould lose their appeal were they tainted by the odor of disinfectant and theclinical seal of approval as contributing to mental alertness. This, however,may be a matter of packaging because one can use a certain vocabulary and setof rationales for obtaining research and grant money and another for inducingpeople to sign up for programs.

Our third category, physical fitness, is also a burgeoning industry, witbhealth clubs, spas, fitness centers, and seniors sport leagues growing byleaps and bounds while new books, magazines, and Web sites spring up tocelebrate the benefits of proper diet, good balance, cardiovascular endur-ance, agility, flexibility and the corollary mental health benefits of physical


robustness. Tai chi and yoga also have become highly popular with midlifersbecause they combine the benefits of balance and flexibility training withan aura of spiritual enhancement. Blended modalities such as "yogalates"(yoga plus Pilâtes) may offend the purists who worry that mixing modali-ties distorts the central purposes of either martial arts forms or traditionalspiritual movement practices. But in the true American spirit of the cafeteriaapproach to all things good and beneficial, these hybrids are sure to gain inpopularity.

Again, should these types of exercises be included in lifelong learning?Indeed, what could be more valuable than gaining greater knowledge aboutone's body and skill in preserving or even improving its functionality? The"physical culture" (to use an old-fashioned expression befitting the architec-ture of some fitness centers that look more like temples than gyms) industrywill continue to expand to meet the expectations of health-conscious boomerswho, ironically, show higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and musculoskeietalailments than that seen in their parents' generation.

FORECASTING THE FUTUREConsidering the near-term future, as a correlate to these trends, lifelong learn-ing opportunities will increasingly become a function of the marketplace.Those who are in sufficiently good health, are motivated by having enjoyedprior years of education (the main predictor of participation), and can affordto enroll in LLIs, pay for travel-learning excursions, sign up for continu-ing education courses, register for back-to-campus alumni seminars, accessInternet educational sites, and choose from among a cornucopia of otherlifelong learning programs, will reap the benefits of "successful aging." Edu-cational programming for baby boomers especially will be a thriving busi-ness that deans of continuing education programs and directors of for-profittravel-learning companies, among others, are (or should be) discovering. Weshould expect an increase in demand for vocational education for second andthird careers with likely emphasis on technical, managerial, and business-related training needs. Also, retirement communities associated with collegesand universities should experience a surge in growth.

Those who do not fare so well because of poor health, limited incomes,lack of motivation because of more restrictive prior education (especially mi-nority neo-elders), will find comparatively little from which to choose in theway of intellectually challenging programs. In fact, those who do not fit theimage of successful aging will be chastised as somehow "failed agers," a moralcastigation of those who seem not to have seized the opportunity to age well.


It doesn't require much reflection to see that this scenario is an extension ofcurrent trends.

Educational programs that hold onto the current nomenclature—self-identified as for elders, for retirees, for seniors—run the risk that they mayage in place, mainly attracting a frailer, older population, a trend already oc-curring at some of the most popular Elderhostel sites such as the famousmusic conservatory, the Peabody Institute. The shift to age-neutral programnames will not be enough to achieve organizational rebranding to capturethe neo-elderly. The challenge for many programs will be how they retain aunique identity if they elect an age-neutral identity. Such programs have theadded challenge of continuing to service their existing participants as theygrow frailer and age in place.

Changes in pedagogical methods may also be critical to attract futurelifelong leaming students. Jean Sheridan (2007), an astute observer of currentolder leamer programs, argues that unless these programs embrace more ofa collaborative leaming culture rather than the traditional expert-led, highlyperformance-oriented lecturer format that is currently popular with lifelongleaming programs, they will find their participants aging in place. It is tmethat many university instructors have adopted teaching methods that focuson leamers as problem-solvers operating in the context of a democratic class-room model. Whether this will translate into the lifelong leaming movementfor those in the second half of hfe remains to be seen.

Lifelong leaming programs in the United States and Canada will con-tinue to mirror their countries' economic systems. These programs—whether conducted through cofleges, senior centers, hospitals, libraries,religious congregations, or sponsored by private sector organizations suchas banks, department stores, and travel-learning agencies—will remain mar-ket driven and increasingly require full fees or some form of co-payment forenrollment.

Lifelong leaming can be compared to that segment of the housing in-dustry that caters to midlife and older adults. The entry of a large and diverseboomer population into the Third and Fourth Age will accelerate trends thatare already occurring for more diverse types of housing. These niche marketsinclude patio homes, age-qualified communities (both freestanding homesand condos), amenity-rich, concierge service condos and apartments, full-service retirement communities (continuing care or life care models), assisted-living facilities, university-linked retirement communities, retirement villages(health care being separate), and now the attention-getting virtual commu-nities, such as Beacon Hill Village, in which older neighborhood resident


pay fees for a concierge-based menu of home, health, and transportationservices. In addition, we will see increased interest in both intergenerationaland elder cohousing communities (tightly clustered villages that include com-monly owned property and community centers equipped with kitchen anddining rooms for communal meals, and often with other such amenities asarts studios, meditation rooms, libraries, and so on depending on members'preferences).

Similarly, lifelong leaming for midlife and older adults will accommo-date both highly individualized, small group as well as traditional, large group("windshield") travel-leaming programs. Cooperative art studios that offer bothtraining and studio space for practicing one's art or craft will grow dramati-cally, especially in towns with strong arts and crafts traditions and in collegeand university towns. Online courses offered by public and private universi-ties and through a wide range of other vendors (libraries, art museums, onlinespecial interest type magazines) will greatly enhance the independent learner'srange of resources. Academic programs at colleges and universities designedto enable midlife adults to "recareer" will also be popular as will certificateprograms for both vocationally related and personal development-orientedleamers. These certificate programs could qualify people for paraprofessionallevels of involvement in social causes (e.g., the NC Center for Creative Retire-ment offers a Blue Ridge Naturalist certificate for those who seek to deepentheir commitment to environmental causes) or to enter a postretirement careerin, for example, real estate, accounting, biotechnology, child care, patient ad-vocacy, or library work.

Some programs v dll disappear or be absorbed into existing administrativeunits of host organizations losing their previous age or life-stage designation,and other programs will find themselves lodged in appropriate spaces andmore permanent buildings. If, as some predict, a majority of baby boomersscorn association with older age identified groups, preferring age-integratedactivities and leaming programs, then there will be a sharp fall out (or changeof identity) of a good many programs. Opportunities for innovation in lifelongleaming beckon the visionary individual and group who recognize the impor-tance and value of continued leaming in the later years. Representative of suchforward thinking is the American Council on Education (ACE, 2007) that,with funding from the MetLife Foundation, is in the midst of a national study,"Reinvesting in the Third Age: Older Adults and Higher Education," a researchproject that anticipates the transformative role that educational institutionsmay play in helping create a broader vision for ours and other nations' agingsocieties.


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Lifelong Learning in Aging Societies · Lifelong Learning in Aging Societies 115 nonprofit organizations (e.g., the travel-learning program, Elderhostel, Inc.), or even stemming from